Tray tables can be included in an aircraft seat assembly. A tray table can pivot to allow the tray table to move between a deployed and stowed position. In the deployed position, a tray table can provide a usable surface for a person sitting behind the seat (e.g., a passenger situated aft of a forward-facing seat). The surface may be used for supporting food, a drink, or other items, such as for work or entertainment. The pivoting nature of a tray table can be useful in allowing the tray table to be readily deployed or readily stowed, such as to facilitate egress or ingress to a seat behind the seat with the tray table.
A latch assembly can prevent a tray table from moving from a stowed position. Some latch assemblies include a rotating latch that can be rotated around an axis between a locked position and unlocked position. In a locked position, the rotating latch can secure the tray table in a stowed position, but can also obstruct the pivoting motion of the tray table assembly and prevent the tray table from moving from a deployed position to a stowed position. A rotating latch can also protrude a sufficient amount to be bumped by passengers during ingress or egress from a seat behind the seat with the tray table. This incidental contact may trigger inadvertent release and sudden movement of the tray assembly table, which may result in injury to passengers or damage to passengers' belongings or other items. Inadvertent release and corresponding harm may similarly occur due to forces or contact encountered during a crash scenario. Additionally, a rotating latch may be a projecting feature that poses an increased risk of injury for a passenger in a crash scenario.
Moving a tray table, with a rotating latch assembly, to a stowed position can take two or more actions by a user. For example, to move to the stowed position a passenger can rotate the latch assembly to an unlocked position, lift the table from the deployed position to the stowed position, and rotate the latch assembly to a locked position. An inability to move the tray table to a stowed position with a single motion can be considered an ingress and egress issue for passengers in some vehicles.